OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever has publicly recalled a heated confrontation with Elon Musk during a leadership dispute at OpenAI. Sutskever said Musk’s behavior at the time made him think “he was going to hit me.”

The incident occurred during a critical turning point in OpenAI’s internal debate over the company’s direction. Sutskever, one of OpenAI’s founding core members, had differences with Musk on AI safety philosophy. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but later left to establish competitors Anthropic and xAI.

Sutskever noted that the tension during that confrontation far exceeded what outsiders imagined. The fundamental disagreement centered on OpenAI’s non-profit mission versus commercialization. Sutskever maintained that AI development should prioritize safety, while Musk favored a more aggressive commercialization strategy.

This public disclosure adds new details to the power struggle within OpenAI. Previously, Musk had repeatedly criticized OpenAI for straying from its original non-profitmission and filed lawsuits demanding OpenAI return to its founding mission. OpenAI countered that Musk’s demands would hinder AI technology development.

Industry analysts say this episode highlights the deep contradictions between safety and commercialization in the AI sector. As AI technology advances rapidly, finding the balance between innovation and risk management remains the industry’s core challenge.

This article is based on BBC and other media reports